Cal's Journal

I have so much to be thankful for. Today is the day when we reflect on the fortunes that have been bestowed upon us. Today is Thanksgiving Sunday. Canada has celebrated Thanksgiving on the second Monday in October since 1957. At that time the Canadian Parliament decided to recognize that day as an official holiday. Prior to that people celebrated thanksgiving as they saw fit, usually from the middle of October to the first week in November. The first Canadian Read more…

I leaned my machine into the corner, the lake on my right. It felt like I could almost touch the water as the road swept down the hill and back around the cliff face. I was at the beginning of my journey for the day. A motorcycle ride on Westside Road was the start of my road trip to Kamloops. Westside hugs the mountainside along Okanagan Lake. It goes north of West Kelowna and ends at the north end of Read more…

A golden red sky rippled over the Okanagan Valley. It was another amazing sunset in a year I have watched more red skies than I can remember. My beautiful wife and I sat in the stern of Serendipity and breathed in the sights before us. It was a vista of deep reds hovering over a line of gold that caressed the mountains above the Okanagan Lake. We have seen many sunsets the past six months, this one was stunning in Read more…

A first world tragedy occurred today. Cell phone down. Not just one, but two cell phones went for a swim in the lake. Too bad phones don’t swim. I started the day with a plan, a plan to go fishing. I was going to go on my motorcycle to the dock and then fish my way to Westbank and pick up my girls and her friends and family. The girls whined, they didn’t want to go on the lake. They Read more…

Warm sunshine glowed down upon us as Indian summer continued into October. We sat in the bow of Serendipity soaking in the glory of it all. My Sister, her husband, my daughter, my wife, and I basked in the heat of the afternoon. A connection long coming, it was good to get some family time on the water. It was an escape from the world around us. I was glad to relax, to feel the warmth of the sun and Read more…

My summer of strange possibilities extended into the fall. We had a booking with Luxury Lake Tours. I had a sunset cruise on an amazing autumn day, a day that kept summer holding on. Warm sunshine lit the sky and embraced me. I mounted my steel horse and ventured to the dock. Only the smoky haze of distant fires occupied a cloudless sky. I cruised down Highway 97, resisting the urge to roll into the throttle. Traffic was light for Read more…

After six long and agonizing weeks, they finally fixed Serendipity. Our beautiful Campion Biltmore was another victim of Covid. Evinrude stopped making motors in April, ostensibly because of Covid19, perhaps because of other issues as well. When the world stopped due to the virus, BRP the parent company of Evinrude elected to shut things down and send everyone home. This didn’t help their customers and it left everyone scrambling, parts were an issue, and getting them took forever. Getting answers Read more…

Two greying figures stooped over microphones and hurled vindictive barrages of verbal diarrhea at one another. It was a dismaying situation watching the first presidential debate of our wayward brothers from south of the border. It got so bad that one wealthy old guy told the other wealthy old guy to shut up. Of course, he didn’t. The descent into chaos has accelerated and I don’t know who the winner was. The loser was the American people.  I make no Read more…

With ragged breaths, I took the last few steps in the snow. I saw my goal in front of me, my friend was already there, he had a grin that stretched across his face. I knew what he was looking at and I pushed my muscles a little further. I gained the last steps and turned.  I shared the awe my friend felt, the joy on his face was as clear as the sun filling the mountain sky in front Read more…

Zinggg, the thin line spun off the reel. I could sense it more than feel it. He was there beside me, my fishing buddy. There was a fog in the air and I could sense my breath in the mist. I couldn’t see it; I started to reel in the line. The lunker was out there. I was pulling in the line, excitement building. “How I wish, How I wish You were here,” Pink Floyd interrupted my reverie. It had Read more…